Stewart Island kiwi
The Stewart Island tokoeka, Stewart Island kiwi, Rakiura tokoeka or Rakiura kiwi (Apteryx australis lawryi) is a subspecies of southern brown kiwi. It lives in New Zealand. This bird does not fly. It runs on the ground.[2][3]
| Stewart Island kiwi | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
Threatened-Nationally Endangered (New Zealand)[1]
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Scientific classification 
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| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Apterygiformes |
| Family: | Apterygidae |
| Genus: | Apteryx |
| Species: | A. australis lawryi
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| Binomial name | |
| Apteryx australis lawryi | |
Appearance
The Stewart Island tokoeka is the largest type of southern brown kiwi. It has red-brown feathers that look like fur. It has small wings and does not fly. It has a long, curved bill, or beak.[2] The nostrils are at the end of the bill, not at the top near the rest of its face. Experts think the kiwi can smell very well.[4]
Habitat and family
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About 20,000 Stewart Island tokoeka live on Stewart Island. Unlike other kiwis, they look for food during the day and at night instead of only at night.[3]
Unlike other kiwis, the Stewart Island tokoeka does not live alone. Instead, Stewart Island tokoeka live in families. The baby kiwis stay with their parents for up to seven years. They help sit in their parents' younger eggs. This makes it so much easier to raise eggs that kiwi parents sometimes have two clutches, groups of eggs, each year.[1] It also goes onto the beach to look for food, which most other kiwis do not do.[4][5]
Threats
Mustelids, for example stoats, never came to Stewart Island the way they came to the rest of New Zealand as invasive species. So the Stewart Island tokoeka does not have stoats that try to eat its eggs and chicks. However, there are stray cats on Stewart Island, and they can be very big.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tokoeka – literally meaning 'weka with a walking stick' (Ngāi Tahu) - has three geographically and genetically distinct forms: Haast, Fiordland, and Rakiura (Stewart Island)". New Zealand Department of Conservation. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Southern Brown Kiwi". New Zealand Birds Online. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Birds". Stewart Island Promotion Association. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dominic Couzens (June 18, 2015). Top 100 Birding Sites Of The World. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472919854. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- ↑ Bette Flagler (2004). Adventure Guide to New Zealand. Hunter Publishing, Incorporated. ISBN 9781588435446. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ↑ Erwin Brinkmann; Neville Peat (1992). Stewart Island: The Last Refuge. Random House New Zealand. p. 98. ISBN 9781869411657. Retrieved August 22, 2021.